Scrap thieves blamed in Troy carbon monoxide poisoning

The owner of a Troy business where two employees were overcome by carbon monoxide Monday said the leak occurred when thieves ripped out copper and damaged the building's pipes.

Jeff Pethke, vice president of Master Mechanical Insulation at 1775 E. Maple Road, said the business' heating and cooling employee searched the business Tuesday looking for the source of the leak.

"We thought our snowplow driver hit," said Pethke, "but when we looked, we found somebody hooked a truck to it and ripped out the backflow preventer and copper pipes on the outside."

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The suspects -- who Pethke surmises did the damage Sunday night -- could have been taking the metal to sell to a scrap dealer, Pethke said.

"They probably would have only gotten $10 for it," he said.

But the carbon monoxide leak they created, he said, "could have killed somebody."

The business -- which provides insulation services on commercial and industrial projects, according to its website -- had a carbon monoxide detector which registered high levels of the gas. One of the two sick employees called for help, and both were transported to a local hospital.

Troy firefighters checked the carbon monoxide levels and found a reading of 1,500 parts per million, much higher than the safe level of 35 parts per million. Officials ventilated the building.

Pethke said his son, Justin Pethke, 29, was one of the employees overcome by the leak and made the emergency call Monday.

"He did really well," said the elder Pethke. Both men are out of the hospital and recovering, he said.

Troy police have been notified of the damage, Jeff Pethke said.

Pethke couldn't estimate the exact cost of damage.

"With the hospital bills and physical damage, it's at least six digits," he said.

Pethke said he was angry when he learned of the incident.

"I couldn't believe this," he said, noting that his small company's philosophy is "People first."

Pethke said, "We're just fortunate nothing (fatal) happened."

Contact Carol Hopkins at 248-745-4645 or carol.hopkins@oakpress.com. Follow her on Twitter @OPCarolHopkins or on Facebook @OPcarolhopkins.